Cash for access: Peter Cruddas 'bankrolled Chequers event'

Peter Cruddas, the disgraced former Tory party treasurer, claimed to have
direct access to Prime Minister David Cameron on at least 13 occasions –
even bankrolling a dinner at Chequers, it was reported today.

The former Tory party treasurer Peter Cruddas (left) and Prime Minister David CameronPhoto: JUSTIN THOMAS/EPA

8:49AM BST 01 Apr 2012

Mr Cruddas was forced to resign last week after he was secretly filmed by undercover reporters from The Sunday Times boasting that he could provide access to Mr Cameron and other ministers and influence over policy for "premier league" donors giving £250,000 to the party.

In the wake of the disclosures the Conservatives released details of party donors attending dinners and lunches held at the Prime Minister's official residences at No 10 and Chequers.

Today, The Sunday Times – publishing further details from its investigation – said that Mr Cruddas described having direct access to Mr Cameron on at least 13 occasions, including a dinner in London's Belgrave Square on the Prime Minister's birthday.

He was also said to have claimed he served a "ruby murray" – curry – to Mr Cameron's wife, Samantha, when she was his dinner companion at a charity event at Chequers, which he sponsored.

Although the event, on October 15 last year, was mentioned on the list released by the Conservatives, no reference was made to Mr Cruddas's involvement.

In a statement, the Conservative Party said: "Over last weekend there was speculation about dinners in the Prime Minister's flat in Downing Street.

"In response to this, the Conservative Party published details of occasions when significant donors had lunch or dinner in official residences used by the Prime Minister, ie Downing Street and Chequers.

"The Conservative Party never claimed that it was publishing details of every occasion the Prime Minister had met with a donor and explicitly did not publish details of the Chequers charity opera event in aid of Mencap and other smaller charities.

"This was attended by a large number of people, including donors to both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. It is a long-standing event, organised by a fund-raising committee and it raised £1 million for the charities."

Shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett said Mr Cameron now needed to "comes clean" about the full scale of his meetings with wealthy Tory donors.

"He needs to establish an independent inquiry immediately so people can have confidence that this matter will be resolved," he said.

"This drip, drip of revelations cannot be allowed to continue. We need a full list of all donors met by David Cameron, not just those the Conservatives themselves class as 'significant'."

The Prime Minister, the party's chairman Lord Feldman and another senior Tory met to discuss the leadership of the Conservative Foundation, which allows people to leave tax-free legacies to the party.

The Downing Street gathering on January 11 last year has been revealed by Lord Hesketh, who was sacked as chairman of the foundation at the same meeting. "It was in a ground floor office," said the peer, who previously served as Conservative party treasurer and as a Tory minister in the 1980s and 1990s.

A Conservative Party spokesman acknowledged the meeting had taken place, but denied that fund-raising had been discussed. The sole purpose of the meeting was to discuss Lord Hesketh's successor as chairman of the foundation, the spokesman said.

"No meeting of the Conservative Foundation has ever been held at Downing Street," he said. "All board meeting of the foundation are held either in the private offices of board members or at Conservative Party Headquarters."

A Tory source added: "This was not a meeting of the Conservative Foundation – it was a meeting to discuss Lord Hesketh's replacement."

Nevertheless, the meeting could be judged as a breach of the Ministerial Code, which states: "Facilities provided to ministers at government expense to enable them to carry out their official duties should not be used for Party or constituency work."

The Conservative Foundation was set up in 2005 and launched by Lady Thatcher and Sir John Major. The foundation's website describes it as "an integral part of the Conservative family".